Hello All!*

Welcome to my 28th newsletter as your City Councillor for the South Winnipeg-St. Norbert ward!  I hope you find the topics informative and interesting!  These newsletters have a concentrated focus on our ward, as local media perform an excellent job in covering City-wide issues.

Thank you to all who provided feedback to my previous newsletter,  and apologies if I’ve not yet responded! These past two months have been packed with committee meetings, council meetings, budgets, open houses and more!  There are some BIG changes on the horizon to reduce the ward population and while bitter sweet, the changes will enable better representation for residents as well as more time to respond to constituents' e-mails and calls!  

The issues below are important, and I thank you for reading this newsletter.  Warm wishes to you and your family for the Holiday Season, and a happy, prosperous New Year!

1.  Planning, Partnerships & Pulling the Pieces Together for the South Winnipeg Rec Complex 

A huge thank you to all residents who came to City Hall to listen, show support and make presentations on the importance of securing funding for a much needed recreation complex in South Winnipeg. In 2018, I expect we will gain more traction on this exciting, new project than we’ve had over the last ten years!  SEE Planning, Partnerships

2. 2018 Budget Highlights for Ward

Every year, I prepare a short summary of the City's 2018 budget, highlighting specific projects in the South Winnipeg – St. Norbert ward. See 2018 Budget Highlights.

On a City-wide basis, I am very pleased to see funding in the 2018 budget to support a long overdue Governance Review as well as record funding to improve our roads.

3.  South Winnipeg Property Taxes and Land Purchases

With the help of the City Taxation department, and after combing through Provincial Annual Reports on Housing and Development, I’ve created two interesting overviews:

• The value of City taxes allocated to recreation

•  The investment of $74.3M of land sales in Bridgwater Neighbourhoods 

4.  Open Houses: New Multi-Family Developments

There are major multi-family residential developments being proposed for Pembina Highway and University Crescent.  I encourage you to attend these Open Houses or contact the developers directly to learn more.

5.  Dividing South Winnipeg-St. Norbert into Two New Wards

For me, this is a bitter sweet issue. The South Winnipeg-St. Norbert ward will be divided into two new wards in 2018. This change is occurring because of rapid growth and the desire to provide residents with better representation by elected officials. Tough decisions will have to be made. See Two New Wards.

6. The Challenging Road in Seeking Accountability

There are many aspects to being a City Councillor:  tremendous learning opportunities, celebratory occasions, difficult decisions and challenging issues that require perseverance as well as determination. These past three months have been particularly challenging, both professionally and personally, in seeking accountability at City Hall. See Accountability. 

The busy elves at St. Norbert Community Centre preparing for
Breakfast with Santa Claus!

*At some point in time, we have worked together on a project or communicated on a Ward issue. If you do not wish to receive my E-Newsletter, just click "unsubscribe" below.  Thank you for your time.